“Most business books give you the same old advice: write a business plan, study the competition, seek investors, yadda yadda. If you’re looking for a book like that, put this one back on the shelf. REWORK is the perfect playbook for anyone who’s ever dreamed of doing it on their own. Entrepreneurs, small-business owners, and artists who don’t want to starve will all find valuable guidance in these pages.”

Why doesn’t work happen at work?That is the question Jason Fried poses in his TED talk.

This book is a favorite of mine that is re-read nearly annually. The tone of the book is irreverent and the entire text makes you question why things are the way they are in your corporate workplace – and, how to make them better.

This book helped me realize some foundational things for my business:

It’s OK to be small

An exit strategy is planning to fail

Great work requires large blocks of uninterrupted time

You don’t have to change your business to meet every customer’s needs

Managers + Meetings = productivity killers

There’s no such thing as a 1-hour meeting.If there are 10 people in the meeting it is a 10-hour meeting.

I found the book through the TED talk, and I began using the Basecamp project management tool for my business after reading the book. I find the concepts helped me save time, stay focused on the future I wanted and helped me be more productive.

What do you do after you’ve founded an insanely profitable business like Microsoft? What is your second act after that?

I watched this documentary upon a recommendation from my mastermind friend, Diana. It was well-produced and very interesting. This is a three-part series diving into the life of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. While it covers the beginnings of Microsoft, this documentary delves deeper into what Bill, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, are accomplishing today – improving the lives of people in the developing world. That’s a pretty BIG SECOND ACT!

Takeaways for me from this book.

1. If Bill Gates can be on time – so can I.

2. There are huge problems in the world – and they are solvable.

3. We need people who think differently – and people to keep them grounded.

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